Sectumsempra
by ephemereis
Summary: -HPFC- James sees a spurt of crimson, and he's terrified.


A/N: This was for The Nightmare Competition, and the character I got was James. Please review!

And of course (I should think this would be a given by now), I don't own anything you recognise. Unfortunately.

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><p>Misquote of the day: "Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean it is not real?"<p>

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><p><em>Judging by the shots of spells streaking past him, he was in some kind of duel. He heard a yelp from behind and whirled around. A boy with a pointed rat-like face was teetering on the verge of collapse, arms pinned to his sides, legs bound to each other so tightly the boy could not balance on them. A rush of anger surged inside him. Wormtail had always been the weakest of the four; it was their job to protect him. Instinctively, he sent a Stunning Spell towards the first Slytherin he saw, before unbinding Wormtail. Next to him, Moony fired a Jelly-Legs Jinx at a young man with a head full of oily black hair - was that Snivellus? - who deftly blocked it with a swish of his wand. Padfoot was not as gentle. He aimed a Stinging Hex at Snape's face, but the git turned and the hex hit Mulciber, who squealed and clutched his face in agony.<em>

_Padfoot looked disappointed for a moment, but then grinned. "Oh well, we got one!" he exclaimed, deflecting two consecutive curses. Wormtail, having recovered for the moment, shot a feeble jet of cold water that dispersed their opponents so that James was able to get in an oppurtunistic shot. However, one of the Slytherins had levitated a chair and dropped it right above where Moony and Padfoot were standing back-to-back. James noticed it just in time, yelling a quick warning - "Duck!" - while attempting a Cushioning Charm. Padfoot responded quickly; Moony, however, was not so lucky and slumped to the ground. Two jinxes soared simultaneously from his and Padfoot's wands, the combined momentum sent Avery sprawling over a desk. Even Wormtail, pale with shock, managed to Disarm someone, although he wasn't able to catch the flying wand._

_Moony couldn't be helped, though; Rennervate only revived magically Stunned victims._

_The duel intensified, both sides fighting harder to compensate for their injured friends. A figure walked into the room but none of the students noticed; when a brilliant Furnunculus Curse streaked towards Snape everybody thought it was from James while James assumed it had been Padfoots - or even, he thought derisively, Wormtail. Snape erupted in painful boils all over, but endured the pain long enough to return a curse before he collapsed. James dodged it easily.  
><em>

_A scream pierced the air. James whipped around and saw Lily Evans, blood spurting out of a deep gash down her waist. His heart skipped a beat. _

_"Lils!" he rushed towards her, suddenly terrified. "LILY!"_

::;::_  
><em>

"Prongs!" The voice seemed soft and faraway. "James, hey, wake up!"

The horrible image slowly dissipated from his subconscious. He realised he was panting and whimpering and stopped immediately. Upon brushing away the hair plastered over his eyes, he opened them and saw Remus' concerned face staring at his own.

"Nightmare?" Remus asked knowingly.

James nodded. "He hurt Lils..."

Sirius smirked from his bed, having been awoken by James' thrashing around. "Lily Evans? You _dreamt_ about Lily Evans? Whoa, someone's in love!"

"It's not funny! We were all dueling and Lily, just out of nowhere... and Snivellus did something... huge gash down her waist - " James could not express his distress through mere words.

"We thought you were having a seizure! Getting so upset over a small injury - you really care for that girl, huh."

"I don't - it was huge, bleeding all down her front, and I didn't even know she was there!"

Sirius attempted to soothe him, thought he was still grinning from ear to ear. "It was just a nightmare, Prongs. Just a dream."

"But she - "

"You said we were all duelling?" Remus walked over to James' bed and pointed to Peter, still snoring in blissful oblivion. "Was _he _fighting? Was I?"

"...you both were. You even got knocked out! And Lils, she -"

Remus looked a little embarrassed at that. "Calm down, sheesh!"

Sirius took this chance to butt in. "_Wormtail_, duelling? Moony knocked out?"

"Yeah."

"That must have been some cool nightmare you had!"

"Well..." James seemed to relax a little.

Remus smiled. "There you go. We're all here. Lily's fine."

"I suppose so..."

"It was all just in your head."

James finally gave in. "I guess I was just being stupid."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "As per usual," he snorted.

"Thanks, guys," James said sheepishly.

"Night!" yawned Sirus. "And don't go having any more nightmares about Lily, or we'll never get a good night's sleep."

"It isn't funny! Night."

"Sleep tight," said Remus, extinguishing the lamp and climbing back into bed.

Peter went on snoring.

::;::

Long after Remus and Sirius had fallen back asleep, James was still awake, trying to force away the traumatising image of Lily that kept drifting into his mind. It had been so real and so believable, so possible...

_A deep gash down her waist..._

_A crimson spurt, a dark black stain on her light black robes..._

_An ever-growing pool of blood..._


End file.
